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Wow this whole time I thought Maylene was strong and then we meet her and she has issues because she lost to Paul and some other guys? It's a gym leader's job to lose :/

I liked that Rachael Lillis came back to voice Maylene!! It sounded just like Misty. Lucario seemed to be the trainer and not the Pokemon. He wanted to teach his trainer not to be so down after losing and that Maylene still had a lot of strength.

Loved that we saw Aura Sphere again, the last time we saw it was in the Lucario movie. 9/10

I really enjoyed this episode. I really like Reggie and was quite impressed by his battling skills and his badge and symbol collection. It's also funny how him and Paul are complete opposites when it comes to pokemon. I was also intrigued by the role reversal between Maylene and Lucario, that was interesting. Great episode.

Good episode, it was nice to see Dawn bond with Maylene in that way, since both of them have lost before. I think Maylene is definitely about 12 aleast because she probably wouldn't have taken it so hard otherwise, and when getting insulted by Paul you probably shouldn't take it too hard.

It was nice to see Lucario and Aura Sphere too

Claims Amber Benson and Ali Larter as Bishie.
Credits go to the original creators of Cynthia's and Flannery's artwork.
United we stand but seperated we fallAnd so the fifth generation begins...

Skipping one review, a weird filler about Pachirisu, sand, and TR robots.

Okay. Many, many things happen in this episode.

Reggie, Paul's older brother, makes his first appearance. He's a pokemon breeder, which is funny in a way, since he's a very cool and in-control guy. I better explain what I mean. My feeling is that when pokemon breeders have episodes about them, the episodes tend to be full of instances where specific pokemon knowledge is needed, as if this is the only thing pokemon breeders are good for (which is why Brock episodes tend to be pretty generic, I think). However, this episode is not like this at all. Reggie's breeder qualities are pretty much only referenced to when he offers to teach Ash's Staravia Brave Bird.

I'm not being completely fair, I realize. Reggie is not an average pokemon breeder. He's pretty experienced as a trainer, which Brock finds out when he asks Reggie whose gym badges/frontier symbols those are, displayed above the fireplace? Reggie answers those are his, with a confident smile. And yes, the small detail that suggests itself when the frontier symbols are shown turns out to be SUPER important way, way, way down the road. This is why it's easy to be paranoid about small details in pokemon episodes nowadays, since a few times they have led to whole episodes. You never know, and it's kind of fun that way. Ah! The point I wanted to make about Reggie and his gym badges is that it's obvious that he holds back against Ash in their battle, pokemon wise. Reggie wanted to give Ash a chance to win, I think, and so used pokemon that were at about the same level as what he judged Ash's pokemon to be at. This is what gym leaders have to do, as well. But where do you draw the line? When are you going to easy on a challenger and when are you going too hard? A gym leader can't just give gym badges away to unworthy opponents (or can they? Ha ha. That's an interesting episode to compare to this one.), but they can't be so hard that it's impossible for an up and coming challenger to win. I think that's sort of the crisis Maylene is in. Paul told her she was the easiest gym leader he ever faced, and she's bothered by that because winning and losing is such a big deal as a gym leader due to the influence it has on the challenger. If she's too hard on a challenger, then the challenger might just end up feeling like...Dawn is right now. This isn't the connection Dawn makes when she talks to Maylene; instead, Dawn shares her doubts about being able to make it as a coordinator, which Maylene compares with her own doubts about being a gym leader. Dawn's talk with Maylene, however, has the failing that most talks in life do: they make you feel a little better at the time and it's wonderful to speak clearly about what your problems/fears are, but the problems are still there. What talking can't fix, maybe a battle can; so Dawn offers to battle Maylene, who hesitantly accepts.

There's so much more I want to say. Actually, I really haven't said that much. So let's keep going. Okay. I think there's an interesting contrast in the way Ash and Dawn react to Maylene's troubles. Dawn wants to help right away, while Ash is willing to come back at a later time (Brock is with him on this as well). Why? I think this is another example of mature Ash vs inexperienced Dawn. I'm sure, back in the Kanto days, Ash would have stayed right there and pleaded and pleaded for Maylene to battle him on the spot. But Sinnoh Ash is more respectful and understanding; he's willing to come back at a later time. I say this with a frown, b/c of that other episode I was talking about with a different gym leader. Ash tries to fix the problem right then, and is VERY adamant about it. However, I think that's a different enough problem from this one. The blackbelts at this gym, plus Reggie, are going to help Maylene out. At that other gym, the gym leader is unchecked; he's been doing what he's been dong for awhile and there's nothing to stop him. So maybe that's why the difference. Dawn's reaction to Maylene's troubles is that this is something she understands and can help out with; in fact, I think helping Maylene out helps Dawn out as well. So Dawn tries, but I don't think she gets very far if not for Ash's help (that's more in the next episode, but a little of it here as Dawn explains to Maylene how hard Ash has worked on energy ball, getting Maylene excited).

Reggie takes advantage of his battle with Ash to try to inspire Maylene to battle Ash as well, so Paul's older brother was thinking about the gym leader's problems. But Dawn is determined to have her gym battle, and so that's where this episode ends. But Reggie's actions make me think maybe Dawn's attempts weren't entirely necessary. Although I certainly appreciate that she tried, and like her for that.

Side note: We in pearlshipping land like Dawn's comment about her contests maybe holding Ash back from achieving his dreams. I'm still, to this day, surprised she said that, and I wonder if that'll be important at all. The remark really came out of nowhere.

This episode was ok... It was cool to see Lucario for the 1st time. Interesting how Lucario was very upset with Maylene, makes sense since she was acting so poorly because she lost to Paul. She didn't even want to be a Gym Leader anymore, wow. It was cool to see Paul's Brother for the 1st time. He has a much different personality than Paul does. It's great to see that Staravia is learning Braves Bird, it's a real cool-looking attack. It was cool to see what a Honchkrow looks like, even though it was only in a flashback.

I liked Maylene. I was impressed by how she could easily deflect Lucario's Aura Spheres during training since I'd always imagined that would be really painful or something. I had also always pictured Maylene as being a fairly confident trainer, so I found it interesting that her confidence was so low after losing to Paul (though I guess it's not that surprising, since what Paul said to her was very rude). Also, I liked the conversation Maylene and Dawn had near the river. It was nice to see Dawn reveal her own insecurities about whether she's holding Ash back - wasn't expecting to hear her say that!

Reggie was a great character too and I liked how he was an experienced trainer. I loved how they showed all the badges he earned from various regions because it brought back many good memories for me.

Ash and the others meets up with Gym Leader Maylene, who is upset after losing to Paul. Also, Paul's older brother Reggie, who's a pokemon breeder....appears for the first time in this episode. I like how he offered Ash to teach his Staravia Brave Bird, it shows how experienced he is. I noticed Reggie has badges from various regions and some of Kanto's battle frontier symbols. Ash on the other hand, has all five symbols and it is great.

Maylene's condition was like...Dawn, who's also upset after her contest loss. I liked how Dawn and Maylene talked to each other about their problems, it was nice of Dawn when she said she's holding Ash backs, it shows that cares for her friends goal. Dawn to challenging Maylene to a battle was unexpected, but I can see why she did it. Maylene lost her hope and confidence after she lost to Paul, so Dawn wanted Maylene to gain her confidence back by battling. Maylene happily accepts Dawn's challenge. This episode ends after Dawn telling the other about her and Maylene's match.
Overall this was a very good episode, It's great to hear Rachael's voice in Pokémon again...she did a good job voicing Maylene.

Pokémon XY

Kalos, Where Dreams and Adventures Begin!

Originally Posted by DaDonYordel

Are we not just silly people writing silly complaints on this message board?

I loved seeing Maylene and Lucario train as well as seeing Paul's Electabuzz start a fight with Pikachu and Piplup. I liked how Dawn comforted Maylene and Reggie was really cool; I was impressed that he won so many badges and seeing him battle Ash using Bibarel, Swalot and Staraptor was intense and a good way to end the episode in my view.

Assuming this episode aired after Lucario And The Mystery Of Mew, then this is the first time I've seen (read: that I've personally noticed) a main character recognize a Pokemon from a movie in the show.

Not that I care that much about continuity between the movies and the show, just saying how I noticed this, is all.

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Well, since Lucario is my top favorite 'mon, so of course I enjoyed it.